Dowell Loggains – December 20, 2018
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Thursday, December 20, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(Obviously, T Laremy Tunsil has had a great year. We talked about that this week. Who do you think has been your second-best offensive lineman this year from how you and the staff grades it?) – “I’d probably say Ja’Wuan (James) and Jesse (Davis) would be right there because those are the guys that’ve been in there week-in, week-out. Ja’Wuan missed a little bit of time. Those guys have done a good job playing. We do do a lot of things with protection that we’re very fortunate that you’ve got a guy like Laremy, because you can give other people help and send protection another way. Those guys have done a solid job for us.”
(In terms of snap counts for receivers, is that something that Wide Receivers Coach Ben Johnson, Head Coach Adam Gase and you discuss collectively? I was leading into the fact WR DeVante Parker with 19 snaps last week. If you could speak about some of the thinking with that.) – “It goes into a game with a plan of how you’re going to play each game personnel-wise. We do have different personnel groups. Even our 11-personnel package is three receivers that have Brice (Butler) in there (and) sometimes DeVante is in there. It really depends how the game is going, how we think those guys have practiced through the week. Obviously, a big part of it is the matchups. It changes weekly. DeVante was the guy in Houston that really had a big game for us and last week Brice played a little bit more.”
(How do you get the wide receivers more involved this week?) – “Number one, everything in the passing game starts with protection. We need to do a much better job than what we did last week. When you start talking about protection, that goes into everyone. The problem is when you put up a number like nine sacks, the first assumption everyone has is it is the offensive line, but it’s bigger than that. It starts with the coaches and then it goes to the offensive line, it goes to the quarterbacks, the running backs and tight ends, and the wide receivers getting off press. You’ve got to do a good job in the timing of the play. All of that stuff goes into it. We’ve got to protect better and obviously once we start doing that, the receivers get more involved.”
(How much can you solve in one week? There’s probably good reason to think that Jacksonville analyzed all nine of those sacks and maybe tries to copy it. How much can you solve in one week in that way?) – “Quite a bit, because a lot of it is stuff we can correct. We had four or five breakdowns in protection that we need to get cleaned up and it needs to happen fast. It’s not as much about (being) focused on what they’re doing but making sure that we’re on the same page of communication, visual and non-visual, and getting those things cleaned up on our end, not what our opponent is doing. It’s a really talented defense, without question, just like the one we played last week. (They’re) very similar in a lot of ways. The defense is still playing hard and is really good and if we don’t get our act together and get this stuff cleaned up and finish this week with a really good couple days, it’s going to be … It’s a tough matchup to begin with.”
(There has been a wide disparity in sacks allowed since Head Coach Adam Gase has been here. obviously, you’ve been here only this year – between home and road. Is there something going on the road in terms of silent counts not being used as effectively as they could be? Is it purely the opposing team gets more of an emotional boost with their pass rush at home? What theories do you have?) – “It’s a great question. It’s probably one that needs to be studied in the offseason hard. There are different things. Going to the silent count, like you mentioned, is obviously an issue. When you play in a dome and you’re playing really good pass rushers, sometimes it’s just that team. Minnesota is a really good pass rushing team. We all knew it. They were in the NFC Championship game last year. Those guys can get after you. The other thing is look at the situations of the game. I think we gave up six sacks in seven-, eight-man protections. When you’re at third-and-8, third-and-9, third-and-10, you’re playing on their terms. And when you start to play that way because you’re not efficient on first and second down, you make their job easier and then all the stress falls on the offensive line and the tight ends and the running backs and the protection unit. There are definitely things that … Sometimes that’s the symptom, not the problem, and you can’t put your guys in those situations. You’ve got to execute better on first and second down, be more efficient within the run game and go first down, second down, first down more. The theme right now is we need to improve on third down. You guys know it, we know it, our players know it. But we also need to do a better job converting first downs and getting explosive plays on first and second down.”
(After RB Kalen Ballage had that long run, I think your next five drives netted -30 yards or something. How do you explain that?) – “That’s what the story of the game was because if you look at the game, it was 21-17. I think we had three series in a row where we might have gone three-and-out or four or five plays. That was the series of the game to me where we had momentum back, got it back close to a one-score game and we needed to do something, and we didn’t. We didn’t execute well enough. We didn’t coach it well enough in that situation. They did a better job than we did. They had the long punt return. The defense did a good job of holding them to three (points) and offensively, we didn’t put anything together. We need to go back to work and clean things up that we made mistakes on. It’s not one thing. It was a missed Mike point on one series and then an alignment issue, then a third-down play when you’re in third-and-11 or third-and-12. The percentage of those things happening are not good, or converting in those situations, especially versus a really good defense. That’s what it comes down to is being efficient and executing better.”
(What was that stretch like to experience for you as a coach?) – “You look for how can I help the group at this moment? How can I help the quarterback? What can I give him at this moment to help him? When it starts getting that way, you really have to go back and focus on your technique and fundamentals because there is the feeling of and the game of … As a player, as a coach, you feel the swing in momentum. It’s like ‘we’re back in this thing. We have to put a drive together.’ We had a chance to go take the lead if we put one together. Just the frustration and dealing with that stuff and making sure that the communication is there. Obviously it’s frustrating. That’s why you get back to work on Wednesday and you watch the tape. It’s hard to watch the tape because everyone knows what happened in the game, but you have to face the realities and tell the players the truth and accept the truth as a coach and where you need to improve, as well.”
(We’ve spent a lot of time this year talking about how RB Frank Gore and RB Kenyan Drake complement each other. What do you think of how RB Kalen Ballage and RB Kenyan Drake complement each other?) – “They’re actually a lot more similar. I don’t know if they complement each other but their skillset is similar to each other where Frank’s is a little bit different than Kalen’s and Kenyan. Frank did a really good job was the downhill runs, staying efficient, staying ahead of the chains and doing those things. These guys are … Kalen is a young player that’s explosive. You guys saw that when he hits it, he hits it downhill. He’s growing. We told him this week. He had a protection issue in the game when he was in there and we said ‘you’re not a rookie anymore. We’re deep enough in the season where you’re not a rookie. There’s no more excuses for you. Our expectations for you are to go in and play well when you get your opportunities.’ They’re probably more similar than separate. Last week, the packages were different – the last 13 or 14 weeks – with those two guys, Drake and Gore. But these guys, their skillset is closer to being the same.”
(In terms of going to TE Mike Gesicki on the first play, were you and Head Coach Adam Gase thinking going in that we’re doing this because of a matchup issue or was there a general mindset of needing to get him involved early?) – “Each week it always starts with the matchup. Always. They played a coverage that we felt like Mike might be able to get some more targets this week and if we can get them in their quarters coverage or zone, there’s a little more access into the defense. Some of these teams just play straight up man. That was the thought process in it. Obviously we’d like to get Mike more involved weekly. We need to continue to increase his numbers and he needs to produce.”
(I think a lot of people were thinking going into the season that a lot of the offense would be built around RB Kenyan Drake, as far as the running game. Obviously RB Frank Gore was carrying the load for a large part of the year. Now when Gore went down on Sunday, you turned mainly to RB Kalen Ballage and Drake finished the game with only one carry. Do you sense that Drake might be getting frustrated?) – “I hope not because I hope everyone on the roster accepts their role. Kenyan played the most snaps of all of the running backs. He had 28 snaps. The other guy had 26. Some of them, they were in there together. On the long touchdown run, Kenyan was running a jet sweep across to draw the attention obviously because of who he is. I hope not because I hope everyone accepts their role and puts the team first. Their roles are defined. They know going into it what we expect. Things can change inside a game but Kenyan is a big part of this offense. Whether he has 25 carries this week or one carry, he’s always going to be a part of the offense.”
(With WR DeVante Parker, we’ve seen him sort of get phased out of the offense or disappear from the offense. What has happened? Is it practices? Is it the shoulder? What’s going on there with him?) – “I think it’s a combination of a bunch of different things. I think it’s a combination of the injuries. It’s a combination of production (and) practice. When he puts good practices together and been healthy, he’s made some plays (like) the Houston game for us. He’s going to continue to be part of it and he’s going to continue to get his plays. When you have your opportunities, you’ve got to make the most of them. That’s how this league is. When you get those opportunities, if you don’t make the most of them, somebody else behind you is going to get an opportunity as well.”
Darren Rizzi – December 20, 2018
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Thursday, December 20, 2018
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Did you see Giants DB Michael Thomas is a Pro Bowl alternate?) – “I heard through the grapevine. I didn’t see it officially but I kind of heard. A lot of times those Pro Bowl things, especially with the specialists, it’s almost like it’s a year behind. If you guys remember when (former Dolphins punter) Brandon Fields made the Pro Bowl here, he actually had a better year the prior year from a numbers standpoint. A lot of that stuff obviously comes down to numbers. The year than Brandon Fields made the Pro Bowl here, the year before I thought he got robbed. A lot of it was I thought it was going to come down to him and another guy, and then a third guy made it that you would never expect. A lot of it, especially with the special teams guys – other than the core players, I’m talking about the kicker, punter, returners – a lot of it is just pure numbers. A lot of it, you’re sometimes a year behind. That’s other positions too. Sometimes, you get a lot of noise and you hear about the guy’s Pro Bowl snub and then be in some people’s mind for the next year. I think it works out like that.”
(Do you think K Jason Sanders maybe is joining that level of consciousness with the year he’s had? Rookie kickers are really hard to make the Pro Bowl.) – “I certainly think he’s in the conversation. Again, you look at his numbers and that certainly would put him in the conversation. He maybe didn’t get as many attempts (with) just the way things worked out this year. There’s going to be years where a kicker may have 40 attempts, he may have 20, somewhere in the middle. It’s just the way things worked out this year. Up to the Pro Bowl voting, he didn’t have a ton of attempts; but certainly with what he’s done and put on paper and put on film, he certainly joins the conversation in my opinion, for sure.”
(On the long punt return, it looked like CB Cornell Armstrong got down there fast, got blocked and then RB Brandon Bolden was aware of the left sideline and was pointing left, and then TE Durham Smythe kind of cut inside, leaving the sideline exposed. Is that Durham’s lane? Should he be protecting the sideline there? If not, explain to me what could have worked out.) – “I’m a big hater of the word ‘lane.’ We don’t talk about lanes.”
(How does the sideline work? Whose job is the sideline?) – “Obviously, we lost contain on the play. You’re 100 percent correct that we lost contain on the play. Durham (Smythe) was obviously the widest guy there and he started to fold in early. He thought he had enough room and obviously, he didn’t. We had three players coming from the inside-out and lost contain on the play, and that’s why the ball should never get down the sideline there. You’re correct in saying that we lost leverage on the ball, 100 percent. A lot of kickoff cover and punt cover, a lot of it has to do with leverage – where you started, where you finish, keeping the ball inside of you, a lot of those things. (Vikings CB Marcus) Sherels is a great punt returner and had a really big day against us. I’m not surprised because he’s a very good player. We lost leverage on that side. Durham wasn’t alone. All we needed to do in that situation was force the ball back inside. We had free players, unblocked players coming from inside-out, so essentially that’s what happened.”
(Just a guess, what percentage of long returns are sideline?) – “It’s probably about 50-50. It depends. A lot of teams work on the sideline. Actually, that particular scheme wasn’t designed to go down the sideline. That particular scheme, they were actually trying to work the middle of the field. We spilled the ball to the sideline and then didn’t have contain on that play. We’ve done a pretty good job in the past here keeping leverage on it, sending it back to the free players and on that particular play, we just didn’t do it.”
(WR Leonte Carroo once was not dressed for a playoff game. He said it was because he needed to improve on special teams. That play that he made to prevent the touchdown, is that probably the best special teams play he’s made since he’s been here?) – “He made a bunch of plays in the Green Bay game, too. I don’t want to openly just say ‘Yes, that’s the best play he’s made.’ The thing about Carroo, since he’s come back and been activated, I’ve seen kind of a refocus. I’m really proud of Leonte Carroo. The reason is because I think he got humbled a little bit. When you get released and you don’t make the 53 and you get put on the practice squad, there’s a couple different ways you can go with that. I’ve seen it both ways. I’ve seen guys come back and kind of sulk and the ‘woe is me’ attitude and don’t really get back to where they should be. Leonte Carroo took the exact opposite approach. Carroo took the ‘I’m going to prove to these guys and to myself and everybody else that I deserve to be on the 53.’ He kind of refocused and he kind of re-centered. Ever since that day … He did a great job of working on the practice squad. He took that group very seriously and he worked his way back up. Him and I had a conversation. I said ‘Listen, at some point you’re going to get your opportunity again. That’s just the way things work out. When you get this opportunity, obviously you need to cash in.’ In my opinion, he’s done a really good job. I think since he’s been back, he’s made a number of plays. That particular play was an outstanding play. It was a great effort play, a great job by him and Senorise Perry because Senorise really makes the ball cut back. I would love to see Senorise get the guy on the ground in that situation, but at least we made the ball cut back. Matt Haack did a good job of not letting it beat him down the sideline. He came in a little bit out of control. We made the ball cut back. These are plays that we watch every week. We watch the big-play tape every week and we point out when the ball breaks out into the open field, how we want to attack it. Believe it or not, there’s a certain way. You see a lot of returners get to the sideline and stay down the sideline where they get everybody pinned, including the punter or the kicker. In that situation, we want to make the ball cut back and give those chase players a chance. Matt at least did that. Senorise, a hell of an effort from the back side and then Carroo did what we call a ‘sweep the ankle.’ We actually did a drill in the preseason in training camp. Just a great hustle play. Let’s be honest, he saved four points.”
(Did P Matt Haack kick it too far or is that distance fine?) – “I don’t believe in kicking the ball too far. I think the outkick the coverage thing is a lot of coach speak nonsense to be honest with you. If Matt kicks the ball 61 yards with a 4.9 (second) hang time, we should go cover the kick, bottom line. That’s what he did. He kicked the ball I think 60 yards and I think the ball was in the air for 4.9 seconds. We have to cover that kick. Even if they get 20 yards on the return, we still have a 41-yard net and you’re still where you want to be. That whole outkick the coverage thing, as you can tell, I’m not a big proponent of that. I think that’s a lot of nonsense. Now, Matt had a lousy punt (in the game). The first one, that really wasn’t the direction we wanted it to go, and he had a little bit of a shorter one later in the game; but that particular kick I thought was outstanding. I thought he crushed the ball. I thought he gave us a chance to flip the field in that situation, which was what we wanted to do. Special teams is a very unique animal because you can play 35 plays in a game and you can have 34 really good plays, and you can have one really bad play. That’s special teams. There’s not a big margin for error and there’s no second down. You get one shot. You go out there and you get one chance. It’s not like offense or defense where if you give up a little bit on first or second down, you’ve got a chance to make it up on third or something like that. Special teams is one play, success or not success. That’s really the world we live in and that’s why we have to be really locked in. I just felt, like you said earlier, we lost leverage on that play, which is uncharacteristic of us. I sat here and talked last week about fundamentals and techniques and things like that. End of the year, you see some big plays. That was a great example. Unfortunately, it happened against us. We’re looking to improve this week on it and work on that, hopefully get that corrected.”
Kenny Stills – December 20, 2018
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Thursday, December 20, 2018
WR Kenny Stills
(How would you describe the challenge against the Jacksonville cornerbacks and where do you see them as far as where they rank among the best in the league?) – “It’s going to be a challenge for us, this group of guys. Not just in the secondary but up front as well. We know that. We’ve been out focusing and practicing hard this week and hopefully that shows up on Sunday.”
(Your thoughts on Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey?) – “He’s a great player.”
(And Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey’s persona?) – “I don’t pay too much attention to anything else. I focus on him as a player and I’ll be ready for Sunday.”
(As a general rule, do you like going against chatty cornerbacks or does it make a difference?) – “I just go out there and play, regardless of who is out there.”
(How big is it for you guys to finish your home schedule out with a win?) – “It’s big for us every week to try to find a way to get a W. It’s just another week for us in our home stadium. We take a lot of pride in winning at home but regardless of where it is, we have to figure out ways to win.”
(How do you explain what happened this year on offense? I know there’s two games left.) – “As far as…?”
(I think you’re 29th in yards or something like that.) – “We’ve been in situations to win games regardless of whatever our ranking is and we haven’t found ways to do it. I think that’s more of the focus for us is just figuring out ways to finish games and get victories.”
(Did the injuries really hurt you guys or is that just an excuse?) – “I mean, yeah. Injuries are going to hurt. But every team in the league is dealing with injuries and it’s about your depth and how well those guys can play. Like I’ve said, we’ve put ourselves in position to win games or have a chance to win and we haven’t closed out games, and we have to figure out a way to do that these last two weeks.”
Minkah Fitzpatrick – December 20, 2018
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Thursday, December 20, 2018
S Minkah Fitzpatrick
(Is safety your best position do you think?) – “I don’t know. I think just being out there on the field wherever I’m at and wherever I’m called to be, that’s where I’m best at.”
(Throughout the course of your career going back to Alabama, where did you play the most? Was it safety?) – “Nickel.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said it is amazing how you’ve been able to handle everything for a rookie. Have you ever felt like your head was spinning at all this year? Has it been second nature to do all of these things because you’ve done them before?) – “I don’t think my head was ever spinning. I don’t think I’d be doing it if my head was spinning. The coaches do a really good job of helping me prepare. My teammates do a really good job of helping me prepare. It’s a lot but week to week, I kind of know what I’m doing going into the game. (There were) maybe one or two times I didn’t know early on in the week and we had to change things up, but that’s football. You’ve just got to adjust, do what you’ve got to do and everybody helps prepare. (We have to) make sure we’re doing what we’ve got to do to win the game.”
(At Alabama you really knew nothing but excellence and 7-7 this year is good but it’s not playoff good. How has the season been for you to deal with on a personal level?) – “Obviously I’m not happy with that but I think there’s a lot of things that we could learn from this season as a team and to improve on next season. I can’t really compare my past seasons to this one. It’s a different level (and) a different ballgame. I do take a lot of things I learned in college at Alabama and try to apply them here. But like I said, I don’t think anyone would be excited about being 7-7 or 8-8, whatever it may be. We have to keep moving forward, keep learning, keep pushing and get better.”
(You don’t have a whole lot of experience in losing I guess was the point of the question.) – “Yeah. I don’t.”
(What have you learned and how important is communication in the secondary in the NFL?) – “It’s important on any level – little league all the way up to the pros – because the secondary, that’s the last line of defense. So if something busts up there, you’re going to get exposed. A d-lineman can make a mistake and a linebacker might make up for it, or a linebacker makes a mistake and a DB makes up for it, but if a safety or corner makes a mistake, you’re going to know it was them on the spot. So it’s really important that we’re all on the same page. We have a saying: ‘If we’re all wrong, we’re all right.’ If we’re on the same page, if we’re doing something wrong, we’re all right. As long as we’re on the same page and moving and flowing together … Everybody is connected on a string in the back end. So if everybody is in the right spots and moving the right way, there’s no holding on the string and we’re good.”
(What part of your game do you think you need to work on the most this offseason?) – “I don’t know. I think overall just improving on … As a player of the game – a student of the game – there’s a lot of things I can learn just mentally. Then physically, you just work on everything: coming out of breaks, being explosive and everything like that. Looking at the right thing and coming out of your breaks. I think just improving on details and improving on my mental game.”
(When T Laremy Tunsil was a rookie, he played guard. For the last two years, he’s talked about how that experience has helped him when he’s playing tackle. Can you draw a parallel on any way from when you’re playing safety or corner that having played the other one helps?) – “Yeah. When you play one position in the back end, you don’t really know what everybody else is doing at all. When you move around … At nickel, I know what (they’re doing). Since I’ve played corner and since I’ve played safety, I know exactly what they’re doing behind me so I can do certain things and move a certain way to allow me to play faster, react and play with instincts and everything like that. Just knowing what everybody is doing around me definitely helps and it allows me to play faster.”
(Do you think you deserve consideration for defensive rookie of the year?) – “I don’t know. I think I’ve done a very good job. A lot of things don’t fall into my hands. I can only control what I can control. I’m just going to keep trying to get better and keep trying to learn everything and move forward.”
(I think there was one other first-round safety – Derwin James. Are you familiar with his game? How do you think you contrast?) – “We’re both versatile but a different type of versatility. He’s more of an in-the-box type guy. He’s a great player (and) flies to the ball; a great tackler. I’m more of a back-end type guy. I’m covering top receivers week to week, moving inside and outside on the back end. It’s just different. We’re both versatile, like I said. There are a lot of comparisons coming out and everything like that but I think he’s a great player. He moves around. He’s more inside closer to the ball and I’m more towards the back end covering people.”
(Have you kept an eye on the other rookies this year to see how they’ve done?) – “Oh, yeah. I keep up with a lot of guys, just looking at their highlights and things like that. When you see people making plays, you go look at the NFL Instagram. I definitely keep up, for sure.”
(Indianapolis has a pretty good linebacker in LB Darius Leonard.) – “Yeah, he’s really, really good. Is he still leading the NFL tackles? He was for a long time. I know when we played them, he was the leader. That dude is a really good player. He just flies around. He actually got hurt in our game but I think he came back later on. He’s a good player.”
(I’ll put you on the spot: Who would you vote for for defensive rookie of the year?) – “I don’t know. There’s a lot of great players.”
(That’s you then? So you’re saying yourself?) – “(laughter) I’m saying I don’t know. There’s a lot of great players.”
(What did you do with your touchdown football?) – “I’m just going to put it up in my little trophy room with all of my jerseys and old trophies and stuff like that. I’ll get a little box for it. My first pick-six.”
Adam Gase – December 20, 2018
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Thursday, December 20, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Did you see what you needed to see from CB Xavien Howard today? Is he progressing?) – “Yeah. We didn’t do as much on the turf. If we would’ve been outside, he probably would have done a lot more than what he did. We wanted to be smart being inside. Things are looking positive heading into the game. We’ll just keep going day to day.”
(S T.J. McDonald this week hasn’t practiced at all. I know he re-aggravated an injury during the game but he came back. What do you think about him?) – “I think it’s a different deal than what he’s had. It’s the same thing – day to day. I don’t know really the exact time frame of it but I know he was fighting through it during the game. He probably shouldn’t have gone back in but he was going to finish.”
(How is LB Kiko Alonso?) – “I mean, he’s hurting; but the longer the week goes, the better he’s going to feel.”
(If LB Kiko Alonso doesn’t play, what are your options there for the three linebacker package?) – “We’re going to have to either say play nickel … If we go base, we have Mike (Hull) and we have Steph (Anthony), so we have two guys that have been here (in) multiple positions.”
(DE Charles Harris, what can he do better?) – “I think he just keeps working with that group. There’s been some good stuff that he’s done on first and second down as far as getting better from last year. Then third down, I think a lot of the stuff is set up for some of those other guys. It’s a tough position to really break through when you have multiple pass rushers. With him being out, he kind of lost some time there to where those guys had gotten in a decent rhythm together. You’ve just got to keep working, which he does. I mean that’s all he does.”
(DE Robert Quinn has 4.5 sacks in the last five games. What do you attribute that to?) – “I think he’s just not getting frustrated from earlier in the year. He keeps doing the same thing in practice and in games. I think he’s done a better job of working his run game stuff. We’re always looking to get better in that area, obviously. As far as pass rushing goes, he’s tightened the corner down a little bit. He’s used some different moves than probably what I’ve seen in the past. He just kept at it. I know that can be frustrating for a guy that is anticipating his numbers being higher than what they’ve been, but he’s stuck with it and he’s disruptive at the right time, for the most part.”
(Statistically the defense is struggling in most categories except for turnovers. You guys are on pace again to set a franchise record for rushing yards allowed. Is this a problem that’s systematic or can it be fixed?) – “I think the one thing that I always look at is yards per carry. We have a lot more attempts than a lot of teams as well and that’s why you look at the yardage and you see that it’s high. Our yards per carry isn’t great but it isn’t like those back four or five teams. If we eliminate the explosive plays, that helps us. Obviously the New England game is a great example of everybody doing their job. We didn’t allow explosive runs. That’s when your yardage goes down and your yards per carry is where it needs to be. Being at 2.6 (yards per carry) for a game, that shows you that we can do it against a team that was hot coming into the game rushing the ball. It’s such a team deal. We just can’t have anybody off-base.”
(You mentioned yards per carry. On the other side, you guys have been doing pretty good. What do you think the common theme is since you’ve had three different backs throughout the season who have kind of carried the load at some point?) – “We’ve had explosive plays from whether it be (Kalen) Ballage, (Kenyan) Drake, Brandon (Bolden). Frank (Gore) was just as steady as you can get. Frank was the kind of guy that if you got zero yards on first down and give it to him again on second down, you’re probably going to be in third-and-manageable. I think that’s when we’ve had some kind of success in the game on first down – first, second and first down again, or third-and-short – because Frank did a good job of just making sure there were no negative plays and he was getting us back to efficient runs and keeping us in manageable down and distances.”
(Does RB Kenyan Drake understand that dynamic?) – “Yeah. We talk about it so much because it’s not like I’m keeping a secret from anybody that we’re not very good on third down. We talk about it all of the time about let’s stay out of it.”
Kendrick Norton – December 19, 2018
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Wednesday, December 19, 2018
DT Kendrick Norton
(Your thoughts on being picked up by the Dolphins?) – “I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to be back in Miami where it all started.”
(What has this experience been like for you?) – “It hasn’t been much yet. I just got here. I’m new to town, new to the team, so I haven’t gotten a chance to get too settled in yet; but it’s been pretty good so far.”
(What were your emotions when you found out that a team claimed you off the practice squad?) – “There was just so much going on. I’ve been going since I got the call so I haven’t really had time to sit down and absorb it all yet. I’m excited to be here.”
(Give us a sense of the timing. When did you get the call and how soon were you on a plane?) – “I got the call and then like three or four hours later I was on a plane on the way down here. I just tried to get all of my affairs in order in Carolina and stuff and then get ready to leave and come down here for a couple of weeks.”
(So a lot of your stuff is still in Carolina I take it?) – “Yeah. Everything.”
(When you left the University of Miami early, did you expect this journey would be as difficult as it was?) – “It really hasn’t been difficult. Some people’s outlooks on it might be different from mine but it hasn’t been difficult at all. It’s been a great learning experience. This year I learned a lot from a lot of great guys. I can’t wait to get this journey started.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase mentioned that the Dolphins were interested you in the draft process. Did you have a lot of communications with them?) – “Yes. They expressed a lot of interest and they were trying to get me down here but I guess they had different priorities and stuff to get in order or whatever they had going on upstairs. I just know they had to take care of their business. But I’m here now.”
(Tell us about the tweet that you sent on draft night about the 31 GMs that passed on you. The motivation behind that? Does it still carry with you today?) – “It was kind of self-explanatory but yes, I’m driven to go out and carve a name for myself and make everyone who passed on me … show them what I can do.”
(Former Hurricanes Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz left UM. I don’t know how close you were.) – “Yeah. That’s my guy. I’m proud of him. Coaches just like players, they’re always looking for a bigger job and still trying to accomplish their dreams in coaching and stuff. He did a lot for the University of Miami. I know he touched a lot of guys’ lives. Anyone who has ever been in contact with him is happy for him to get this chance.”
(How would you describe your playing style?) – “I play physical and (have a) good get-off. I play hard.”
(Did you know anybody here other than WR Malcolm Lewis?) – “Yeah, Isaiah Ford. Dee Delaney went to Miami. I believe that’s it. I haven’t even seen everybody yet.”
(Where did you know WR Isaiah Ford from?) – “We played in high school together.”
(To clarify, the whole Ken Norton situation.) – “No, that’s not my father or my grandfather or anything. I don’t know them.”
(That’s kind of weird how that wound up on your draft report thing.) – “Yeah. I don’t know where they got it from but they just kind of fabricated that one.”
(Do people ask you about that a lot?) – “Yeah.”
Adam Gase – December 19, 2018
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Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We saw CB Xavien Howard come back. Where is he on his progress and is he likely for Sunday?) – “We’ll see how this week goes. Hopefully we can get him out to practice and move him around against some competition. It’s trending in the right direction. I think he’s done a good job of doing everything that he’s been asked to do, working hard and trying to get out there as fast as he can.”
(How deserved is his Pro Bowl recognition?) – “He’s had some really good games. He’s made some big plays in key moments for us and flipped some games for us. I think he’s done a good job, especially the last six or seven weeks. All of his coverage has been tight. He’s around the ball all of the time. He’s kind of preventing guys from getting the ball thrown their way. It’s hard to really think of too many guys that are really above him.”
(You guys had CB Bobby McCain shadowing Vikings WR Adam Thielen last week. Why was he qualified for that job?) – “We were just trying to get the right matchups. Him and Minkah (Fitzpatrick), we were trying to get the right body type on the right guy. We thought that was the best thing for us to do. We rotated some of those other guys in there. We were trying to do everything we could to give us the best chance to win.”
(How disappointing was it to see RB Frank Gore’s season end the way it did and also, as a head coach, how would you describe what it’s been like coaching him?) – “It’s disappointing considering the amount of games, the amount of starts that he’s had in a row. I wish he could’ve finished this out. He’s a special person. He’s a special player. I think it’s hard to find somebody that’s really done anything comparable to him, especially the way football is now and how he’s run early in his career. To last this long and then to produce the way he has at this age is just something you just probably won’t ever see again.”
(Has RB Frank Gore expressed anything to you about wanting to come back next year?) – “We haven’t gotten there yet. Right now, it’s really hard for him to just really swallow at this point.”
(The offense is close to the top of the league in average yards per rush but the number of rushes is down. What would be the reason why there’s not a greater amount of rushes?) – “Because we’re bad on third down. We don’t have a lot of plays. I don’t even know what our play average is, but it’s not very good. I think that’s really probably the reason why the rush attempts are that low. The yardage is high because we’ve had those explosive runs. I don’t even know how many we’ve had. Having a 75-yarder, those type of things – that will do it for you real fast. That will get the average up. That will get the yardage up. If we had more plays, we’d have more attempts. The fact that we find ourselves in third-and-seven-plus way too much and we haven’t been very good at even coming close to converting them, that really hurts us.”
(How do you look at the big-play nature of your offense? Is that something you rely on?) – “We obviously have had to because that’s been something that’s really helped us more than anything. To rely on it, that’s a little scary to do because you can go a whole game without getting one of those. We’ve been lucky in the fact that we’ve had good execution on a lot of those plays that we’ve had explosive plays. You want more of that to where it looks like it does in a walkthrough. In this last game, they blocked that perfect. (Kalen) Ballage used his speed, didn’t hesitate and just blew past everybody. That was great to see. The more consistent we can be on things like that, the better results we’ll have.”
(S Reshad Jones expressed some frustration about how he’s being used on Monday. How do you feel about where he is mentally right now?) – “He’s fine. I asked him about it. I was giving him a hard time. The way that we’ve had to move people around, we kind of get caught in certain situations. Him and T.J. (McDonald) are kind of interchangeable to where it’s almost like, I don’t want to say exactly how we do things, but you think of it as just left-right and there’s a slot on that side, that guy goes down and the other guy is back. It’s kind of dictated by the formation in some of these cases. We want to put him in the best position possible. We’ve kind of had to do things a certain way because of who we have out there. Minkah (Fitzpatrick) going to corner and us kind of moving all these guys around, that’s kind of why that’s happened.”
(We didn’t notice S T.J. McDonald out there today. If he can’t play, what are your options?) – “We’re just going to have to keep working through all these scenarios and moving guys around. We at least have some options as far as guys that have been back there either this year or in practice. The good thing is we have multiple guys with flexibility.”
(You picked up DT Kendrick Norton off Carolina’s practice squad. What can you tell us about him and when you’re claiming a guy off another team’s practice squad, how much can you learn about that guy since he’s in another team’s camp?) – “You’re going off your college scouting for the most part. That’s what our pro department does. That’s what they do. It’s non-stop evaluating preseason film. Really, most of the work is done before we even hit the season. Probably in those first two weeks, they’ve evaluated everybody on the practice squad and they’re always constantly watching guys if they get moved up or play a game and then evaluate them again. For us, it was somebody we were interested in the whole draft process. We go through this every week. (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and his crew go through all of this every week of looking at everybody’s practice squad to see if anything changes. If we have a guy go down, we have to always be ready to see, if we don’t have what we’re looking for on our practice squad, being able to go grab somebody else. We’re kind of in that part of the year where it’s tough to get guys off of practice squads because they end up staying where they’re at because they know that system and they know the season is in the final two weeks. Why leave when you already know that system? It makes it tough to get a guy to come to you, but it was a good opportunity for us and a good opportunity for him. We’re always looking for big guys whether it’s offensive line or defensive line.”
(I wanted to ask you about the injured jerseys for RB Kenyan Drake and WR DeVante Parker. Now they’re out of them, does that mean they can be hit in practice and is it an indicator that they’re healthy from the shoulders?) – “They could be hit. We’re out of padded days, so they shouldn’t get hit at this point. But yes, that’s what it would mean, that they’re in better shape than what they were a couple weeks ago.”
(What have you learned from RB Kalen Ballage throughout the season?) – “I thought he did a good job of just sticking with learning everything (and) practicing hard. There was a time there where he could have mentally flipped a switch to where it would’ve been really hard for him. Sometimes when you’re a rookie, you don’t understand why you’re not playing and (wondering) ‘How do I get up?’ He’s looking in front of him and we have four other backs and they’re playing to him on special teams. He just never wavered. He just kept grinding. He did unbelievable on scout team to where our defense was struggling because he goes one speed. What you saw on Sunday, that’s how he practices. He finishes every run in the end zone and we’re always waiting for him to get back. He’s doing things the way you want a pro to do it.”
(Have you noticed any difference in the attention that guys are paying or the energy at practice or anything, based off the playoff possibilities not looking as clear as maybe last week?) – “I thought today was a good day. I thought guys were really good in our meetings. This defense is similar to some of the ones that we’ve seen in the past where a lot of our guys have recall on when I’m going through, here’s what they’re doing and here’s why they do some of this stuff. Guys were sharp in meetings and asked good questions. And then at practice, I thought offensively those guys, they were running and executing what we were asking them to do. Defensively we’re a little short-handed right now because we’re beat up for practice. Hopefully by Sunday we’ll be a little healthier. But I thought guys were good in the team meeting and individual meeting. There was good attention. There seemed (to be) good energy at practice. I don’t think they’re focusing on, ‘Hey, two weeks from now.’ I think they’re worried about trying to win this game and knowing that, ‘hey, is there a possibility?’ Yeah. It’s a small percentage, but you keep fighting to the end. Weird things happen in this league and you just never know.”
(So stunts against your offensive front, it seems like a lot of the damage has been done … What’s the deal, what’s the problem?) – “We haven’t done a very good job of passing them off, to where when we get picked, that guy is slamming him down and being able to re-trace and understand there’s a guy coming back to you. Sometimes we get hung up on them and that’s where we need to make huge improvement. We have to understand. We see it enough with our defense. We should be better than what we are right now. We’ve seen it enough. We understand what they’re trying to do and we haven’t really done a good job of reacting to some of the things that teams have done. There’s been some creative things that teams have done that we haven’t really seen that caught us off guard a couple of times; but at some point, we’ve got to understand kind of just the general philosophy of what they’re trying to do and we’ve got to find a way to get better at it. We’ve got to change up probably some of our protections when we do that. There’s probably a couple of things we can help them there. But at the end of the day, it’s about not hanging on one guy too long and just understanding there’s somebody going to replace him.”
(So is that physical? Is that mental? Is that instincts? Is that not studying enough?) – “I would say it’s not (not) studying enough. Everybody knows that’s going to happen. When you get beat on something in a game, you’re going to see it the next week. Like, teams are always going to test you. If you can’t stop like a wham play, you’re going to see it every week until you get zero yards or a negative play. If you’re giving up 20 yards a clip, you’re going to see it the next week. We know we’re always going to see it right away and we’ve just got to keep working at it. We’ve got to find some ways to take the edge off a little bit to where protection-wise, we can help ourselves by just gapping it up. Now you lose your back, you lose your tight end and any kind of check-downs. But there are some ways that we can try to help them up front and then at the same time, when we have to go six-man protection, we have to do a better job passing them off.”
(When CB Xavien Howard was out, how much did that hurt you schematically?) – “It’s going to hurt you a lot. It’s like when Laremy is out. When Laremy is in there, he’s on an island and we can double everybody else. But without Laremy, we’re not in good shape.”
(Did you expect T Laremy Tunsil to make the Pro Bowl?) – “I did. I think he’s the best tackle in football. I was shocked because without him, we can’t do anything. He’s on an island every play every game and he knows it. We tell him in the meetings. ‘Here’s what we’re doing protection-wise,’ and I tell him, ‘You’re on your own.’ And the way he sets and the way that he punches and sits down … Even last week, he would have been fine, then one of our backs runs into the back of him and knocks him off.”
(Why do you think T Laremy Tunsil didn’t make it?) – “I don’t know. That’s hard for me to explain. I don’t know the actual percentages of who gets a say and all those types of things.”
(Thinking about the nine sacks, about how many of those do you think QB Ryan Tannehill could have or should have done something to limit or prevent it pre- or post-span?) – “There was one pre-snap that I wasn’t real happy with what he did. I went through them the other day. Really, for the most part, he didn’t have much of a chance.”
Adam Gase – December 19, 2018 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Jacksonville Media
(Could you give us a little bit of a snapshot of how QB Ryan Tannehill has handled this up and down year with the injuries and stuff?) – “He’s handled it as good as you can handle it when you’re coming off a season where you missed the whole year and then, really, he goes to throw a ball and gets hit right in the right spot and all of a sudden (he) can’t throw with any velocity or any kind of power. Really, it was one of those things nobody could get us a straight answer as far as he would be out. That was frustrating for him, but once he came back, he’s done a good job of improving each week. The New England game when he got the ankle, I really thought we lost him there for … it was going to be a while. But he fought through it and finished that game and then was able to play the last one.”
(Do you get the sense that QB Ryan Tannehill is kind of underappreciated for what he’s been able to go through and the way he’s played not just this year, but throughout his career?) – “Yeah. He’s had some really outstanding games. He’s put together some games where he’s had streaks of games where it’s been very good. I think the thing that a lot of people focus on is the fact that not only this year, but our first year together, we played some tough teams on the road and we haven’t done well as a team. The way that the league goes is really the quarterback gets, for the most part, he gets all the blame and some guys get a lot of the credit and some guys don’t.”
(Home and away is always tough or there’s usually an advantage at home, but any reason you think for your team why it’s such a disparity home and away?) – “I think our away games we played some good teams. We caught Cincinnati when they were first the division and one of the hottest offenses in football. We had opportunities in that game. New England is always a tough place to play. That’s probably why they have the best home record over the last three years. Indy was hot when we got them. Green Bay was still playing pretty good at the time. Houston, obviously, has continued playing well through the entire year. We got Minnesota probably at the wrong time where it was do-or-die for them. They make a coaching change and their guys were pretty fired up to play. They’re a tough defense. We got caught on the wrong end of that one and played it poorly as a whole team and we got way behind on a team you can’t get behind on.”
(What’s it like being around a guy like RB Frank Gore?) – “Any time you get a chance to be around a guy that’s going to be a future Hall of Famer, it’s special. He has so much impact on other players. His work ethic and how he goes about his daily business, it rubs off on other guys. That one is going to hurt. That hurts us as a team, as an offense. Being somebody who was around him 10 years ago, I’ve watched him do a lot of things at that time. I feel terrible for him just because I know he wanted to finish this season out on the right note.”
(What do you see out of Jacksonville, especially their offense has struggled the last three weeks. Do you wonder whether this is a bad time to be playing them because they can get things turned around?) – “Every game in the NFL, you’re going in as … You have to prepare for every game. You have to make sure that you understand what they do well, what you could possibly take advantage of. I know that we have to do a great job on offense because their defense is flying around and they’re causing havoc. They’re very tough to play because you might have an idea what they’re going to do, but blocking them and being able to get on their linebackers in the run game, it’s really tough. They have really good players all over the place on that defense. And offensively, (Head Coach) Doug (Marrone) does a great job with the run game, especially. We haven’t done great against the run. We have to make sure we tighten up, we’re gap sound and we tackle well, because when you got the backs they’ve got, it can be a problem for us.”
(When you watch the tape of them, what kind of stands out for you when you see CB Jalen Ramsey?) – “I see a guy that when he presses you, you don’t see many guys going very far. When he plays off … My window of seeing really good corners is small because I’m not going to count the years I was a little kid and Deion Sanders was playing. (laughter) But in the time that I’ve been in the league, I don’t know if I’ve seen anybody look as smooth as him when somebody’s running across the field. He stays tight. He’s not holding and grabbing guys. It’s almost like he knows the route and he’s running it for them. His ability to find the ball and either bat it down or pick it off … He’s so smooth with everything he does. It looks exactly the way that you wish you could teach every player how to do it. He just does it because he’s that good.”
(So you weren’t surprised when CB Jalen Ramsey made the Pro Bowl?) – “No. (laughter)”
